Pep Talk
by CathyCat2709
Summary: When Pepper comes home from work she finds a certain spy in her living room. She and Natasha talk (about Tony because what else would they talk about?) and sort some things out between them. A funny but serious conversation. PostIM2. (not sure tho if this belongs to the Avengers or Iron Man category) Pepperony and NatashaxPepper friendship.


**A/N: So I finally decided to upload something again. I've been writing and writing but never got myself to actually upload some of my stories because I'm afraid they are either end up like my first mutli-chapter story or they just aren't good. Well, whatever. Here's a small PepperxNatasha friendship/Pepperony fanfic. I know it's not perfect but it'd be nice if you'd tell me what you think so I can get better.**  
**P.S. english isn't my first language.**

**Disclaimer: If I'd own more than just the idea, you'd see it on screen :P**

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Pepper put her jacket on the wardrobe and dropped her bag with a relieved sigh when she came back from a meeting at Stark Industries that Tony had sent her to. (He had refused to go himself- the usual, you know)  
It was already getting dark outside and Pepper was starving for a good cup of coffee. She noticed a small light in the living room as she headed to the kitchen.** (A/N; I have no idea how the rooms of the Stark Mansion are arranged)**

Natasha who was currently staying at the Stark Mansion had switched on a small light while she was working on her laptop... just like she did when Pepper left this morning.  
Natasha looked up and gave Pepper a small smile. (of course she had already noticed Pepper)

"Coffee?" Pepper suggested.

"Oh, god, yes please! This paperwork is killing me!" Natasha said stressed and ran her hand through her hair.  
Pepper nodded simply and started walking towards to the kitchen.  
Natasha felt guilty like she was using Pepper as _her_ assistant. After all Pepper had to be tired after her paper work, too.

"Wait!" Natasha called after her. Pepper looker at her questioning.

"I'm coming with you. I need a break from this anyway." Natasha added quickly shutting her laptop close and got up to follow Pepper.

While the coffee was brewing, the two women sat in the kitchen in silence for a few minutes looking out of the window at the nightlights of the city.

"Thank you for letting me stay here while I have a mission in Malibu. This is much more comfortable than the accommodation from SHIELD." Natasha broke the silence and gave Pepper a grateful smile.

"Don't thank me, it's Tony's house." Pepper replied simply and Natasha chuckled at her modest and polite tone.  
And maybe she also wanted to cover up the fact that Pepper's words sounded not just professional but almost _cold_ towards her.

"He might have build it but without you he'd be completely stranded. You're running everything for him. So I consider it _your_ house." she shrugged.  
Pepper's eyes softened and a smile tugged at her lips.

"Sometimes I ask myself how he survived in the time before I became his secretary, assistant and _babysitter._" Pepper chuckled at the last word and Natasha joined in.

Finally the mood lightened a little.

"No, seriously; thank you for letting me stay here and actually treat me... like a human."

"But Natasha, you are-" Pepper protested.

"Pepper." Natasha cut her off, giving her a _don't try to lie to me_-look.

"I'm a spy from SHIELD, I'm trained to basically read people's thoughts." she explained why she didn't believed Pepper's words. But it also explained why some people didn't treat her like a human.

"I'm not judging you for your job. Without you, Tony probably wouldn't be alive."

"That's what your head is telling you, but I know that when you see me anywhere near Stark, you think of Natalie."  
Pepper's silence was proving Natasha right.

"I'm really sorry for what Natalie did and-"  
"You mean what _you_ did?!" Pepper interposed tartly.

"No, I'm **not** Natalie!" Natasha shot back regretting her harsh tone imminently.

"It's a job... like acting for a movie, just with different background. But you are never the role you play. The only thing you have in comment are your look and your skills." Natasha explained a little more gently.

"Believe me; I would never let Stark flirt with me... to be honest; I was about to hit him for the way he treated you. The way he made you feel... And I'm really sorry that my part as Natalie was the reason."  
Pepper looked away from Natasha's intense stare.

On the one side she wasn't sure if she could believe anything the redhead said _because she was a god damn spy_.

But somehow she just knew that Natasha meant what she said... And maybe the reason Pepper believed her words were a certain other spy and the way Natasha looked at him.

"I-I believe you." Pepper whispered but shirked from the spy's look.

"But?" Natasha asked gently putting a hand on Pepper's arm.

"But that doesn't change the fact that he was attracted to Natalie, attracted to your body." Pepper whispered and tried to hold back her tears. She was still afraid of loosing Tony to another woman.

_There have been so many before her._

Natasha knelt down in front of Pepper and took her hand trying to make her look at her.  
She knew how to make people feel better and she didn't wanted to see Pepper sad...  
But she felt like she was manipulation Pepper, even everything she was going to say was true.

"Pepper..." Natasha said softly and finally she met Pepper's blue and wet eyes.  
"He was slowly _dying_. And he didn't know how to tell you because you'd be worried sick about him. And you were too important to him to let that happen 'cause there was _nothing_ you could do."

Natasha let out a sad smile, almost dry chuckle escaped Natasha.

"Too bad it didn't worked because he made you sad with his secrets and heart broken because of Natalie. He wanted a woman in his life, or what was left of it, but there's one thing we know about Tony Stark for sure; he's not good with people and emotional stuff. So you were off limit because he actually _cares_ for you and didn't wanted to ruin it... And I think in the back of his mind he hoped you'd get jealous because he still wished it'd be you instead of Natalie or anyone else. Apparently this jealousy-thing worked, just not the way he planned."

Pepper had listened to Natasha's gentle words. It was comforting her to know that the spy would never make a move on Tony and it calmed her down to hear possible explanations for Tony's behavior. Even she and Tony had gone all over this, Natasha's conformation relieved her.

But it was also scaring the hell out of Pepper. How could Natasha know this all?

"You're scary with your mind reading skills."  
Natasha laughed and stood up.

"I've heard that before." she smirked and leaned against the kitchen counter.  
But as quickly as the laughter appeared, it disappeared again.

"I'm seriously sorry for causing you to feel this way but there was nothing I could do about it without screwing up my job. I would never make a move on him, he's off limit in more than one way - and he's not even my type. And the second Stark knew that I was only playing a part, messing with his head, he realized what he has with you."

"And what does he have?" Pepper sighed, _almost sobbed_, burring her head in her hands.

If Pepper wouldn't be so sad and desperate, Natasha would have smiled because she had been _just right_; Jealousy issues never come out of nowhere.

"You are one of the most _honest_ and _trustworthy_ person I've ever met, Pepper. You care for him. I bet someone who really cares for him is rare. Someone who can see that he's not just the 'genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist' as he refers to himself. You get his butt out of trouble... In fact, you can actually be around him for more than an hour without going insane or feeling the urge to beat him."

Natasha smirked when Pepper made a appraising gesture at her last sentence.

"And you've got a good sense of humor...Yeah, I definitely think he can't find someone better than you." Natasha smiled at Pepper and finally she smiled back.

She had barley heard such kind words about herself.

"Just like Clint can be around you without fearing for his life?" she asked playfully.

If that hit a nerve, Natasha knew how to hid it.

"If we couldn't rely on each other, I would have dumped him as a partner a loong time ago."

Pepper looked at Natasha, trying to figure out what the woman was thinking. But no way. Natasha hid her emotions and thoughts without looking like there was anything she had to hide. She looked straight at her with a simply smile, her words kind and simple.

"So you forgive me?" Natasha asked again and Pepper realized how important this was to her.

"I do. I know it's not your fault... and thank you for, you know, psych me up."  
Natasha smiled and it was probably the most real smile Pepper had ever seen on the spy's face.

"No prob and thank you too. This means a lot. You are probably the closest thing to a female friend I ever had."

"Really?" Pepper asked in a faked surprised tone, lightening the mood.

"If you believe it or not; the girls I've met, even the ones who didn't know I'm a spy, thought I was a freak and scary because I could take the guys down in two seconds." Natasha explained.

"Like you did with Happy?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Natasha chuckled at the memory. But again her serious side returned in a second.

"I think you should talk to him. It's not right that he makes you feel insecure."

"Easier said than done." Pepper sighed, not knowing if Natasha even knew what she was talking about. Did she ever had a serious relationship when she barley had friends?

"Believe me; I know what I'm talking about." Natasha answered Pepper's thoughts, leaving her wondering if Natasha really could read thoughts and if Pepper suggested right with this thing between Clint and Natasha.

"I know it's scary as hell to talk about things you rather want to forget. The answers can hurt but a clean break is better than slowly drowning in your own emotions. You can't erase emotions, that's something I had to learn the hard way." Natasha told Pepper, sounding like she was deep in thoughts. Or memories.

"Natasha?" Pepper asked carefully.

"Huh?"

Did Pepper just caught the spy off guard?

"Can I ask you something?"  
Natasha smiled playfully but her eyes seemed to harden... but she was too good of an actress for Pepper to tell.

"You just did." she pointed out and Pepper sighed. This woman was just as stubborn as she was when it came to emotions and personal things.

But could you blame her with that job of hers? The people Natasha usually came in contact with always used her feelings against her.

So Pepper added: "I mean... as a friend."

Natasha turned around to take the coffee behind her on the kitchen counter that was ready by now. Pepper felt like this was planned, it was just a perfect timing. Like this Natasha could avoid Pepper's eyes.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to... I just wondered... how exactly did you learn to keep your emotions under control without getting eaten by them alive?"

Okay, so that wasn't the _exact_ question that was burning in Peppers mind but she didn't wanted to ask something_ too_ personal.  
Natasha turned back again and gave Pepper her coffee, surprisingly she had a smile on her lips. A small one but a smile. And again she didn't seemed like she was hiding something.

"I really appreciate that you don't want to get into my personal space, that you think like a friend."

"I correct; you are_ damn scary_ with your mind reading skills!" Pepper choked out, gripping her coffee tighter.

How did she _do_ it?!

"Just as you said yourself; I have a some kind of mind reading skills. They are part of my skill to manipulate people and in order to manipulate them I have to be an extremely good liar, even when it comes to my emotions. It's just something I was always good with and I trained it even more in the course of time." Natasha explained seriously.

"So, I can never know when you're really comforting me or if you manipulate me into feeling better through making up a story and letting me think you're sorry?" Pepper asked suspicious, even she already knew the answer.  
Natasha nodded slowly, sadly.

Saying it the way it was, made the women realize why Natasha probably had such few friends (beside this obviously spy-thing)

A silence took over as they sipped on their coffee and watched the lights of the city again.

"Are you scared of lying to yourself and, well, drowning in your own emotions." Pepper asked quietly.

"I'm more afraid of loosing track of what is real and what is faked."

"I guess emotions become a scarrier and more dangerous thing when you're a spy." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

It was only then that Pepper realized how messed up Natasha's life was and how bad it must have been that she choose to be a spy over a 'normal' life.

Of course Natasha could be manipulating Pepper into thinking that but her instinct told her that she didn't. Just like her instinct had told her that Natalie Rushman wasn't what or who she seemed.

"I'm really grateful for having you as a friend, Pepper." Natasha said and a sad smile appeared on her lips.

_'Even I'll never be able to tell you everything'_ Both of them could hear the silent sentence.  
Maybe that's why Clint and her seemed so close.  
They were in the same situation. Natasha could talk with Clint over all these spy things. He wouldn't judge her. In fact, he'd probably understand better than anyone else.

"Even if being friend with you means I have to deal with Mr. 'I'm the coolest in the world'... no offence." Natasha added and her sad smile turned into a smirk.

_'Damn, that woman was extremely good in controlling her emotions.' _Pepper thought_._

"No offence taken. I know how he can be, I've spent too much time with him to be blindly attracted to him. I guess that is something really important. As annoying as his flaws can be, they make me love him more because that's just... _him_." Pepper said and smiled at the thought of her boyfriend.

Natasha remained quiet for a second, this time the storm of emotions were locked behind massive wall.  
This time Pepper could see that Natasha was keeping some emotions from her, but she couldn't see which.

Pepper pretended not to notice because she thought of Tony, even she really wondered what was going on behind Natasha's walls.

Slowly Pepper started to understand why some men where so fascinated with her.

Two seconds later Natasha seemed completely fine again.

"Even if one of his flaw's is to not be able to apologize properly?" she teased and Pepper laughed.

"You remember the strawberry-apology-but-not-really-apology?" Natasha added.

"Yeah, I remember that. I was soo mad."

"There is nothing worse than a mad woman, except maybe two mad women." a voice said from behind him.  
Pepper almost rolled her eyes. It was as if he appeared on clue. She wouldn't be surprised if he eavesdropped.

And she was damn sure Natasha knew he was in the near and changed the subject because of that.

"Especially when one of them can knock you out in less than five seconds." Natasha added smirking dangerously as Tony's hand shot up in defeat.

"No one is gonna knock out anybody in my house." Pepper said stern but with a hint of teasing in her voice as she walked over to her boyfriend.

"Uh, y_our_ house?" Tony asked irritated as Pepper gave him a kiss on the cheek, his hands still raised over his head.

"We decided to make it Peppers house since she's the one taking care of everything." Natasha said casually, sipping at her almost cold coffee.

"You can't just _make_ it Peppers house." Tony protested, letting his hands sink.

"Oh, believe me; I can. All I have to do is hack your deed of ownership through my SHIELD computer."

"You wouldn't dare." Tony exclaimed to the two women who were both smirking at him.

Natasha just gave him a look that clearly meant something like '_watch me because I'd love to do it and you know I'd get aways with it'_.

"Are you sure? She's an international spy and I'm your girlfriend."

"We're rotten enough to do it." Natasha added and almost burst out in laughter at Tony's face.

"And I was going to say that a mad female spy isn't as bad as making my girl mad and being eaten by the guilt alive..." Tony said and shook his head.  
He might be Iron Man but he had no power over his girlfriend and a kickass spy.

"Aww, sweet." Pepper whispered as she gave him another kiss on the cheek.  
Tony smiled at his girlfriend.

"Even I'll end up dead in both ways. One is just quicker and less painful."

"Oh, I can imagine a lot of slow, painful ways to kill you." Natasha threatened.

"Tell me again how I survived saving the world with her." Tony asked Pepper and she chuckled.

"There were enough aliens she could strangled to let her anger out."

"Ahh, right. In that case, I should probably go before she gets too close." Tony said.

"I don't even need to put a hand on you to kill you in the most painful way." Natasha said dead serious and it took Tony one second to understand what she meant.

"No! You wouldn't-"

"Wanna test it?" Natasha growled in a murderous and dead serious voice.  
Tony grabbed Pepper's hand and dragged her out of the kitchen.

"Hey!" she complained.

"I'm not letting you alone with her." was the last thing Natasha could hear and she smiled to herself.

The most painful way to cause Tony's death is to make his life worthless through taking the one thing he can't live without; _Pepper_.

Well, if that wasn't a proof that he loved her, Natasha didn't knew what else could convince her that Tony only wanted her.

Natasha glanced at the clock.  
Time to get back to stupid paperwork.

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**So I actually wrote that before the trailer of Iron Man 3 was out. That makes me kinda proud.**

**Constructive criticism is very welcome. *putting candies on a plate* ;)**

**xoxo CathyCat**


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